CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
Volume III

PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE
LENAPE OR DELAWARES,
AND OF
THE EASTERN INDIANS
IN GENERAL

BY
ALEŠ HRDLIČKA

NEW YORK
THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION

10 East Thirty-third Street
1916

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 62

PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE LENAPE
OR DELAWARES, AND OF THE EASTERN
INDIANS IN GENERAL

BY
ALEŠ HRDLIČKA

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1916

[Pg 11]

Introduction

In 1902, in pursuance of a study of the antiquity of certain skeletal remains found in the vicinity of Trenton, New Jersey, the writer collected and described all the crania of the Lenape or Delaware Indians which at that time were preserved in our museums.[1] From that time until 1914 no further anthropological discoveries of consequence were made in the region over which the tribe once extended; but during the spring of the latter year careful archeological exploration was conducted in the upper Delaware River valley in behalf of the Museum of the American Indian in New York, by Mr. George G. Heye, with the assistance of Mr. George H. Pepper, in the course of which were found the remains of no fewer than 57 Indian skeletons.[2] The bones were not in the best state of preservation, but they were collected with scrupulous care, and shortly after the field work was completed they were presented by Mr. Heye to the United States National Museum. This skeletal material forms an important addition to the previously limited collections representing the Lenape Indians, whose physical identity it is highly desirable to establish.

The remains came from a cemetery in the form of a low mound on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, opposite Minisink Island, 3 miles below Montague, in the northwestern corner of Sussex County, New Jersey. The accompanying map (fig. 1) shows the site of the cemetery, which lay in the heart of the region once occupied by the Munsee branch of the Lenape Indians.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 1

[Pg 12]

Fig. 1.—Map showing the location of the Munsee cemetery.

[Pg 13] On the arrival of white settlers, the entire region afterward known as New Jersey belonged to the Lenape or Delawares,[3] whose settlements extended “from the Mohicannituck [Hudson River] to beyond the Potomac,” and “from the heads of the great rivers ‘Susquehannah’ and ‘Delaware’ to the Atlantic Ocean” (Heckewelder). The neighboring tribes to the north (Mohegan, Narraganset, Pequot, and others), as well as those on the south (Nanticoke, the Powhatan confederacy, and others), all acknowledged relationship with the Delawares, with whom, there is no doubt, they were affiliated linguistically.

The Lenape were divided into three large groups, or, as Brinton calls them, “sub-tribes,” namely, the Munsee or Minsi (the Wolf), the Unami (the Turtle), and the Unalachtigo (the Turkey).[4] These sub-tribes, it seems, were subdivided into numerous smaller groups with distinctive names.[5] The three branches of the tribe occupied special regions, but it has not been reported whether their boundaries were stable and definite. The Minsi, according to Heckewelder,[6] had “chosen to live back of the two other tribes and formed a kind of a bulwark for their protection.... They extended their settlements from the Minisink, a place named after them, where they had their council seat and fire, quite up to the Hudson on the east, and to the west or southwest far beyond the ‘Susquehannah’; their northern boundaries were supposed originally to be the heads of the great rivers Susquehannah and Delaware, and their southern boundaries that ridge of hills known in New Jersey by the name of Muscanecun, and in Pennsylvania, by those of Lehigh, Cohnewago, etc.”[7]

[Pg 14] This is evidently one of the rare instances in which it is possible to make a clear tribal identification of older skeletal remains in eastern North America, and it is also an instance in which the contents of graves enable a fairly close estimate of the age of the site. The artifacts found with the various burials include a number of objects introduced by early settlers, a fact that shows the cemetery to be of historic date. Furthermore, one of the skeletons is that of a tall white man of Scandinavian or Nordic type, possibly one of the Dutch, English, or Swedes who reached the upper valley after 1614. As the remainder of the skeletons do not indicate any trace of admixture of white blood, the cemetery may be regarded as dating from the period of the earlier contact of the Indian and Caucasian races, or probably from the latter part of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was surely earlier than 1740, for in that year the main body of the Munsee was forced to move from the Delaware, settling first on the Susquehanna and soon after on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, where some of them had gone as early as 1724.

An event of anthropological importance in connection with the Munsee before their removal from the Delaware is noted by Ruttenber.[8] In the latter part of the seventeenth century, at the outbreak of hostilities between the Five Nations and the French, the advance of the Iroquois in the south was being contested by the Shawnee, who at that time were also engaged in war with the Cherokee. “In the latter they [the Shawnee] suffered severely, and but for the timely aid of the Mohicans would have been destroyed. The Lenapes (Delawares) invited them to remove to their country; the invitation being accepted, the Minsis brought the matter to the attention of the government of New York, in September, 1692, on an application to permit their settlement in the Minisink country. The council gave its assent on condition that they should first make peace with the Five Nations.[9] This was soon effected, and the messengers departed, accompanied by Arnout Vielle, an interpreter, and three Christians, to visit the country of the Shawanoes and consummate the transfer.... Captain Arent Schuyler visited the Minisinks in February, and there learned that the Shawanoes were expected early in the ensuing summer. This expectation was realized.”

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 2

GENERAL VIEW OF THE LOCALITY OF THE MUNSEE CEMETERY
AT MINISINK, NEW JERSEY

[Pg 15] From this it appears that between 40 and 50 years before their removal from the Delaware, the Munsee were joined by some Shawnee, which fact may explain certain peculiar conditions shown by the skeletal remains that will be considered in the following pages.

The mound or cemetery explored by the Museum of the American Indian was known for many years, and some human bones had been removed from it, especially by Doctor Dalrymple, who exhumed at least 15 skeletons, but unfortunately these have been lost to science.

General

As already stated, the collection from the Museum of the American Indian consists of 57 Indian skeletons, which range from nearly complete to such as are represented by only a few bones. Notwithstanding the fact that the condition of the material leaves much to be desired, many of the bones are sufficiently well preserved to afford fairly good data for study. The bones show neither vestiges of greenness nor traces of mineralization. There is no post-mortem deformation, except in a few detached bones of the skulls of infants. The color of the bones is predominantly brownish yellow, shading in some specimens to light dirty yellowish and in others to a darker brownish hue.

Age and Sex

Of the 57 individuals, 34 were adults and 23 (40 per cent) were adolescents or children. Among the adults the estimated ages of the individuals range from 24 to 70 years, and nearly half were 50 years or more. Young infants (first year) and fetuses are absent, having either been buried separately, or, more likely, had turned to dust, while the older, more substantial bones resisted disintegration. The cemetery was obviously one that served during a limited period as the communal burial place of a sedentary group of moderate population. The determination of the sex was facilitated by the good development of the sexual characteristics in the skulls, and by the presence of the pelvic [Pg 16] and other bones of the skeleton. The results show that the 34 adults were divided equally between the sexes, as might be expected in the case of the remains of adults in the cemetery of a peaceful population.[10]

Artificial Deformation

A fact of considerable interest is the presence of artificial deformation in more than half of all the skulls preserved. In the majority of cases this appears to be a simple occipital, cradle-board flattening, but there are three or four instances in which there are plain traces of bilateral frontal compression, which indicates intentional deformation and suggests that all the posteriorly flattened skulls may possibly be of this variety, though the applied pressure failed in most cases to leave a distinct mark on the frontal bone.[11] The result of no such practice has been observed in any other part of the northern or middle Atlantic States, but deformation of exactly this type was common in Arkansas and Louisiana, as well as in the area to the northeastward.[12] Among the crania of the earlier and somewhat more easterly Lenape reported by the writer[13] to the number of 25, only two (both females) showed slight occipital flattening. These facts are significant and point either to some difference in derivation between the Munsee and other Lenape and eastern Algonquian tribes, or, if of common derivation, to a connection between the Munsee and some people from the Trans-Appalachian region to the southwestward. It is in this connection that the historic accession to the Munsee of some Shawnee is suggestive, for the latter, or a part of them, lived in Kentucky and Tennessee, where the practice of fronto-occipital deformation was not uncommon, and in some parts of that area, indeed, was quite general.

Pathology

The bones in the collection are exceptionally free from the effects of injury and disease. The skulls exhibit no scars or injuries, and no disease, with the exception of a case of perforating mastoiditis in one of the children (no. 285,348). There is, however, as will be shown later, a considerable proportion of dental caries, with some indications of pyorrhea alveolaris.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 3

PLAN OF THE MUNSEE BURIAL SITE SHOWING LOCATION AND
POSITION OF THE BURIALS

[Pg 17] In the remaining bones of the skeletons the only marks of injury or disease are as follow:

• Humeri (total number present, adults,[14] 56):
• Left bone of no. 285,307: Old surface injury involving lower
• fourth of external border, with formation of some callus and
• a peculiar foramen (pl. 23).
• Right bone of no. 285,303: Complete ankylosis with ulna, at
• right angle, possibly as a result of an early fracture of the
• olecranon (pl. 24).
• Both humeri of no. 285,320: Some periostitis on distal third.
• Both humeri of no. 285,306: Osteoperiostitis, distal half.
• Radii (total number, adults, 45):
• Both bones of no. 285,320: Some osteoperiostitis over distal half.
• Ulnæ (total number, adults, 44):
• Left bone of no. 285,306: Moderate osteoperiostitis, lower bone
• (right healthy).
• Femora (total number, adults, 60):
• Pair, no. 285,306: Moderate osteoperiostitis, distal half.
• Right bone of no. 285,336: Some osteoperiostitis, distal half
• (left healthy).
• Right bone of no. 285,320: Moderate osteoperiostitis, distal half
• (left healthy).
• Right bone of no. 285,313: Marked “mushroom head” (arthritis
• deformans); left healthy.
• Left bone of no. 285,321: Moderate “mushroom head.”
• Tibiæ (total number, adults, 58):
• Right bone of no. 285,301: Trace of periostitis at middle
• (left healthy).
• Right bone of no. 285,303: Slight osteoperiostitis on external
• surface, middle third (left healthy).
• Right bone of no. 285,306: Osteoperiostitis, proximal half
• (left healthy).
• Left bone of no. 285,313: Moderate localized osteoperiostitis,
• middle (right healthy).
• Right bone of no. 285,336: Moderate osteoperiostitis, middle
• three-fifths (left healthy).
• Left bone of no. 285,309: Trace of periostitis (right healthy).
• Pair of no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis.
• Left bone of no. 285,321: Slight arthritis, upper articular surface
• (right healthy).
• Fibulæ (number present, adults, 51):
• Pair, no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis. [Pg 18]
• Clavicles (present, 44):
• Pair, no. 285,305: Moderate osteoperiostitis.
• Right, no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis.
• Sternum (present, 14):
• Moderate arthritic changes in nos. 285,305, 285,309, and 285,314.
• Scapulæ (present, 25): Nothing pathological.
• Ribs (present, 420):
• No. 285,305: Two long ribs fractured, well healed.
• No. 285,309: One long rib fractured.
• In addition, most of the ribs of nos. 285,305 and 285,333 show
• traces of arthritis.
• Spine (of 25 individuals, mostly complete):
• No. 285,305: Some marginal exostoses (arthritic) in the cervical
• and lumbar regions.
• No. 285,306: Moderate arthritic exostoses, lumbar region.
• No. 285,333: Advanced spondylitis deformans, involving parts of
• dorsal and whole lumbar region with sacrum, synostosis.
• No. 285,319: Moderate arthritic exostoses on nearly all.
• No. 285,311: Moderate arthritic exostoses.
• No. 285,320: Moderate arthritic exostoses.
• No. 285,328: Moderate arthritic exostoses in cervical and lumbar
• regions.
• Pelvic bones (of 20 individuals):
• No. 285,321, right: Some marks of arthritis about acetabulum.
• Bones of the hand (number, 774):
• No. 285,303: Carpal bones of right all damaged, crushed, and
• fused with third metacarpal.
• No. 285,320: One of the carpals crushed in life.
• Bones of the feet:
• Os calcis (number, 61): Nothing pathological.
• Astragalus (number, 58): Nothing pathological.
• Other bones (number, 537):
• No. 285,321: Right scaphoid, arthritis (left healthy).
• No. 285,326: First right metacarpal diminutive (may have been
• injured in early life).
• Patellæ (number, 38):
• Pair of no. 285,329: Slight arthritis.

A summary of the above details shows that there are only six, possibly seven, instances of more noteworthy injury, and of these three pertain to ribs (two in one person) and two to the wrist. These are very moderate proportions of traumatism, and show plainly that the people represented by the remains led unusually peaceful lives.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 4

TWO TYPICAL MUNSEE BURIALS IN
MODERATELY CONTRACTED POSITION

[Pg 19] As to disease, there is evidence of only four conditions, namely: Periostitis, osteoperiostitis, arthritis, and arthritis deformans; and of these four the first two and again the last two are closely related, being really only degrees or varieties of the same processes. It is quite possible that all four conditions are merely differing manifestations of arthritis. There is no well-founded suspicion of the existence of syphilis in the tribe, and there is no trace of either rachitis, tuberculosis, or tumors of the bones. (Dental caries will be referred to under Teeth.)

We may now approach the more strictly anthropological observations.

General Observations: Differences in Type

Although the remains comprise seventeen adult males and the same number of females, some of the skulls are so defective that measurements and notes of value could be made only on those of ten males and thirteen females.

In examining and arranging these specimens, the first realization of importance is that, while the majority clearly belong to one type, there are a few that must be classed apart. The main type, as will be noted later and more plainly from the measurements, is that characterized by dolichocephaly to mesocephaly, and agrees with that prevalent among other Lenape as well as other Eastern tribes. The additional type is brachycephalic. Among the twenty-five skulls of adults there are four of the brachycephalic type, all females. A few additional examples existed evidently among the children; and several of the remaining skulls may be transitional as a result of admixture. The brachycephaly is so marked that it can not be due to normal individual variation within the series, and if we exclude this possibility the only remaining conclusion is that the broad-heads could not have been Lenape, except by adoption. The individuals represented by these skulls might have come from western Pennsylvania, where brachycephaly seems to have prevailed at least in some districts; or from farther southwestward, from a region to which points the intentional deformation among the “Munsee” crania. These possibly represent the Shawnee, who came from that section and who, according to growing indications, while speaking Algonquian were of a different type physically.

The admixture of this type existed evidently also among other branches of the Lenape, and to a more limited extent among various other tribes of the Atlantic states. The writer called attention to this mixture in 1902,[15] and will return to the subject in the second part of this memoir, which deals with Eastern skulls in general. [Pg 20]

Chief Descriptive Features

The skulls are of good size, but otherwise are characterized by moderate development. There is no massiveness, no heavy supraorbital arches or crests, no heavy jaws. It is plain that they did not belong to a tribe of great huntsmen or warriors.

The frontal region, though prevalently somewhat low in the females, in a large majority of the cases is well arched; the zygomæ are not excessively broad, the malar bones not heavy. The nose is rather short, the face only mildly prognathic. The dental arches, as in the majority of Indians, are very regular, and the same applies to the medium sized teeth. The vault of the skull from above is either ovoid (58 per cent) or elliptical (42 per cent), while the outline of the norma posterior approaches more or less the pentagonal.

In addition there may be mentioned an unusual scarcity of Wormian bones and an equal sparsity of marked anomalies. These and other features are treated in detail in another part of this paper. (See pp. 35, 47.)

Measurements

The measurements[16] offer many points of interest, although, so far as the vault is concerned, they are considerably interfered with by artificial deformation in some of the specimens. As in certain former reports by the writer, they will be dealt with in order according to their significance.

FORM OF THE VAULT

The measurements relating to the form of the vault comprise the maximum length and breadth, and the basion-bregma height, with the resultant percentage-relations or indexes. The details are given in the accompanying table. Although the number of undeformed specimens in good condition is small, it will be seen (a) that there is an absence of extremes in the several dimensions, (b) that the crania range in type from dolichocephalic to mesocephalic, and (c) that they show good height. As a result of the latter, both the height-length and the height-breadth indices are high, though corresponding well with those of many other Indian tribes and those of numerous other branches of the yellow-brown race. Comparisons will be found in the second part of this report, which deals with the Eastern Indians in general.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 5

TWO BURIALS IN EXTENDED POSITION

The lower burial is of special interest as showing how much of a skeleton
may be decayed or scattered without disturbance of the remainder

[Pg 21]

I. MUNSEE CRANIA:  MEASUREMENTS RELATING
TO THE FORM OF THE VAULT[17]

• LEGEND:
• A = Length, maximum
• B = Breadth, maximum
• C = Height(basion-bregma)
• D = Cephalic index (b × 100)/x
• E = Height-length index (z × 100)/x
• F = Height-breadth index (z × 100)/y

Attention may be called to the lower value of the average cephalic index and the higher value of the average height-breadth index in the males than in the females. These conditions, due to the relatively greater length and also to the relatively greater height of the male skull, are not exceptional and will later be found to be quite general among Eastern Indians.

The identical value of the average height-length index in the two sexes is of no special significance and is probably incidental.

In the deformed skulls we see the usual effect of the flattening by the lessening of the length and a compensatory increase in both breadth and height. [Pg 22]

SIZE OF THE SKULL

The principal determinations relating to the size of the vault are the cranial module or mean diameter, the capacity, the circumference, and the antero-posterior arc, all of which are given in the next table, where also is shown the thickness of the skull, which is of importance as a corrective to the external dimensions.

II. MUNSEE CRANIA: MEASUREMENTS RELATING
TO THE SIZE OF THE VAULT[19]

It will be noted that the measurements of the Munsee skulls, particularly those of the males, show fair capacity as well as external size of the vault, and also that only a few of the crania are thick-walled. An interesting feature is the unusual superiority of the measurements of the males over those of the females. This in a measure is due to the occurrence among the males of one skull of extraordinary size (1,720 c. c.); but even if we exclude this, the difference between the two sexes is somewhat greater than among other Indians. In the following table are given a few comparative data on this point.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 6

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,303, U.S.N.M.
(FRONT VIEW)

[Pg 23]

III. RELATION OF AVERAGES OF MEASUREMENTS
RELATING TO SIZE OF VAULT IN
MALES AND FEMALES

(Males = 100)

These data are of interest in a number of additional particulars. In the first place, it is seen that, barring capacity, a striking similarity exists in the relation of female to male measurements in the different groups of Indians. There are reasons to believe that such resemblances are not confined to these tribes alone or even to Indians generally, but extend, with a limited range of variation, to all races.

Another remarkable fact is that the external measurements of the skull, especially the mean diameter or module, and the circumference show practically identical percental relations in the two sexes, averaging each about 96 for the female to 100 for the male; while in capacity the difference is decidedly greater (less than 90 to 100) in favor of the male, notwithstanding the fact that the thickness of the female skulls averages smaller. In other words, a female skull only nine-tenths as thick as that of a male and which gives external measurements that compare with those of the male cranium in a ratio of 96 to 100, will stand in respect to its internal capacity toward the male skull as only 88 or 89 to 100. The cause of this must be attributed to the unequal build, in the two sexes, of those parts of the skull which are not reached by the ordinary external measurements, and the narrower and especially the lower frontal region in the female plays probably a large part in this connection.

RELATION OF SIZE OF SKULL TO STATURE

The size of the head, as is well known, increases with stature. This increase is not uniform, but progresses in a diminishing ratio. The fact holds true in all races, though the exact values of the ratio with the different racial elements have not as yet been determined definitely. In the case of skeletal remains, in which it is not possible to learn the exact stature, the most suitable manner of obtaining light on the subject is to compare the length of the femur with the cranial capacity, by which means we ascertain the number of cubic centimeters of the capacity that correspond to each centimeter of the length of the femur. The following data give the results of such a [Pg 24] comparison among the Munsee and on Indian skeletal remains from Arkansas and Louisiana.[23]

IV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: RELATION OF SKULL
CAPACITY TO STATURE[24]

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 7

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,303, U.S.N.M.
(SIDE VIEW)

[Pg 25] The results presented in the table show considerable individual variation in the femoro-cranial index, by reason of which there is some irregularity of alignment of the cases. This is especially true in regard to the capacity, which in this small series shows little regularity or evidence of conformity with the aforementioned general rule of increase of the size of the head with stature. The tallest of the eight females had one of the smallest heads, and the man with the largest brain was not even of average height. However, there is no doubt that if the series of skulls was considerably larger, the usual progression, showing gradual increase in the size of the brain with the height of the body, would be apparent.

The femoro-cranial index progresses much more regularly than the capacity, and shows another well-known fact, also common to all human races, namely, that while the absolute size of the brain enlarges in proportion to the stature, its relative dimensions with reference to stature diminish as the latter increases; so that while the tall man or woman may be expected to have an absolutely larger brain than the average of his group, relatively to his stature he will have less brain matter than the short individuals of the same group.

The averages in the preceding table are interesting in another particular—i. e., the difference in the value of the femoro-cranial index in the two sexes. Both the former records of the Louisiana crania and those of the Munsee now presented show these indexes to be perceptibly lower in the females than in the males. The superiority in this respect among the male crania is seen not only in the averages, but practically throughout the records, seven of the eight indexes in the females being below the minimum of the indexes in the males. It seems evident that among the Indians the brain substance in the females is not only absolutely smaller than in the males, but is also somewhat smaller for each centimeter of stature, so that men of the same height as the women would still show an advantage in this particular. This advantage is not necessarily connected with mentality, but may be due to the greater muscularity of the males.

As to the value of the femoro-cranial index in different tribes, we can as yet say nothing positive. The indications are that if differences exist, they are not of a very pronounced character.

SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE FACE

The measurements chosen, as in the writer’s work previously cited, are only the most essential. They include the total and upper length of face, and the three breadth measurements—the smallest breadth of the forehead, the greatest facial breadth in the plane of the zygomatic arches, and the breadth at the angles of the lower jaw. As to the total facial length (chin-nasion), wherever the teeth were worn due allowance for the wear was made on the basis of measurements on well-preserved teeth of the same sex and in the same group.

The results, presented in the next table, show that among the Munsee the face was of only fair height and that its other dimensions were rather subdued for Indians. [Pg 26]

V.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MEASUREMENTS RELATING TO
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE FACE[25]

• LEGEND:
• A = Total length of face (chin-nasion)[26]
• B = Upper length (prosthion-nasion)
• C = Breadth of face (diam. bizyg. max.)
• D = Facial index total (x × 100)/z
• E = Facial index upper (y × 100)/z
• F = Cephalic index of the skull (for comparison)
• G = Diameter frontal minimum
• H = Diameter bigonial
•  
• S.D.   = Slightly Defeormed
• DEF. = Deformed

The bizygomatic breadth, though not really small, is below the average in many other tribes of Indians, while the frontal breadth and that of the lower jaw are also somewhat below the medium. These results bear out the statement made under “General Observations” (p. 20) relative to the moderate proportions of the face of the Munsee. Comparative data given in the second part of this report indicate that in some of these respects, especially in the height of the face, the Munsee were somewhat exceptional among the Eastern tribes.

The facial indexes indicate mild chamœprosopy to mild leptoprosopy. Both the total and the upper indexes are perceptibly higher in the females, which on analysis of the measurements is seen to be due to the relatively greater narrowness of the face in the female, which, in turn, is doubtless connected with a relatively smaller development of the temporal muscles, the main muscles of mastication. The same condition was noticeable in the crania from Arkansas and Louisiana previously reported by the writer, and is probably quite general among Indians. Some of the foreheads and some of the lower jaws among the Munsee, as will be seen from the details, were relatively quite narrow.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 8

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,303, U.S.N.M.
(VIEW FROM ABOVE),
SHOWING TYPICAL FEATURES

[Pg 27]

ORBITS. NOSE

With respect to the orbits, the writer follows his invariable custom of making measurements on both sides and recording the mean, which, in turn, gives rise to a mean index. This procedure is necessary in view of the fact that in only a minority of cases are the two orbits of equal dimensions and that sometimes they differ considerably.[27]

Among the series of Lenape crania which the writer reported on in 1902,[28] there were several specimens in which the orbits were unusually low. At that time it seemed as if this feature might be almost characteristic of these Indians; but evidently such is not the case, for low orbits are quite rare among the Munsee. As will be seen from the following figures, in only one instance (male, no. 285,313) are the orbits decidedly low and broad, giving the microseme[29] index of 78.1. Of the remaining cases four males and two females (43 per cent) are mesoseme, while two of the males and five of the females (50 per cent) are megaseme. The extensive fluctuation of the orbital index in both sexes of the Munsee tribe is very striking, but much the same variation was observed in the Arkansas and Louisiana crania previously mentioned, and is present among the Eastern tribes in general.

VI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: ORBITS,[30] NOSE[31]

The average orbital index in the female Munsee is higher than that in the males, as is generally the case, a fact directly due to the heavier development of the supraorbital region in the males.

The nose in many of the individual Munsee, in conformity with the rest of the upper face, was rather short, but occasionally it was quite broad. The indexes, according to Broca’s classification, give four instances (25 per cent; 3 m., 1 f.) of leptorhinic, four cases (25 per cent; 2 m., 2 f.) of mesorhinic, and eight cases (50 per cent; 3 m., 5 f.) of moderately platyrhinic nasal aperture, the averages falling both in mesorhiny. The usual accompaniments of platyrhiny in the negro nose, however, are invariably absent, the inferior borders of the aperture being moderately sharp and the bridge showing generally a fair development.

PROGNATHISM

Measurements relating to prognathism include three basal diameters, namely, from basion to prosthion, the subnasal point and nasion; and the subnasal (alveolar) height, with the heights from prosthion and the subnasal point to nasion. These lines connected give us, in skulls in which the facial parts are well preserved, the angle of the face as a whole and also the alveolar angle, which it is important to measure separately.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 9

MALE SKULL, NO. 99-6669, A.M.N.H.,
FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND
(FRONT VIEW)

[Pg 29]

VII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PROGNATHISM, FACIAL
AND ALVEOLAR[32]

• LEGEND:
• A = Basion-prosthion line
• B = Basion subnasal point[33]
• C = Basion-nasion
• D = Prosthion-nasion height
• E = Prosthion subnasal point height
• F = Facial angle (angle between a and d)
• G = Alveolar angle (angle between a and e)

An extended and meritorious report on the naso-alveolo-basilar angle such as here described was published in 1909 and 1910 by Dr. P. Rivet,[34] who commenced its determination independently by the same method as that of the present writer and almost simultaneously with him; but no comparisons are as yet available in regard to the alveolar angle. It appears from Rivet’s data that among modern white adults the average of the facial angle, as herein defined, ranges in round numbers from 70.5° to 73°;[35] among the negroes, the mean of Rivet’s series gives 68.5°; among several groups of American Indians it was 68° to 71.5°. Rivet calculated his indexes mathematically and with the help of an “abaque,” while the writer obtained his results by the direct (graphic) method, which, for small series of calculations and used with precision, seems to him preferable, although the results are probably quite comparable. By this method the writer obtained on the Arkansas and Louisiana crania, previously reported, averages ranging for the facial index from 70° to 74° for the males, and 68° to 70° for the females; while the alveolar angle gave the average of 55° to 60° in the males, and 51° to 53° in the females. The Munsee crania give the rather high average of 73° for the males and 74° for the females, with respect to the facial angle, and 59° in the males with 57° in the females for the alveolar angle. These figures indicate that both the facial and the alveolar protrusion in the Munsee was exceedingly moderate for a group of Indians, although in a measure the height of the indexes is due to the shortness of the face. [Pg 30]

PALATE

It was possible to obtain satisfactory measurements of the palate (or, more strictly speaking, the upper alveolar arch) in 13 instances, which, in view of the usually frequent defects of the arch, is a good proportion of the cases. The measurements and indexes follow Turner’s method, which is quite satisfactory.[36] The greatest length recorded by Turner in 20 European male and 8 European female skulls was 6 cm., the smallest 4.7 cm.; the greatest breadth 6.9 cm., the smallest 5.6 cm. The same measurements among the Munsee range, if we take both sexes together, from 5.1 cm. to 6 cm. for length and 5.9 cm. to 7.2 cm. for breadth, showing both dimensions, though more especially the breadth, to be slightly superior in these Indians to what they are in whites. The palatal or “uranic” index averaged, in Turner’s whites, 116.2 in the males and 115.6 in the females; in the Munsee the averages are 120.7 for the former and 120.5 for the latter sex, showing the palate in these Indians to be more “brachy-uranic,” or relatively broader. The sexual differences in both Turner’s and the present series are so small as to be practically negligible. In the different groups of Arkansas and Louisiana crania, reported in 1909 by the writer, the average palatal index ranged from 116 to 122 in the males and from 115 to 122 in the females—conditions very similar to those shown in the present observations.

It may here be pointed out that the whole subject of the dimensions of the palate or alveolar arch in the different races, and especially in the different types of skull, needs investigation. As it is, the variety in the dimensions and shape of these structures, and especially their correlation with the rest of the face and skull, are only imperfectly understood.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 10

MALE SKULL, NO. 99-6669, A.M.N.H.,
FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND
(SIDE VIEW)

[Pg 31]

VIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PALATE;[37]
LOWER JAW;[38] FORAMEN MAGNUM

• LEGEND:
• A = Index (B × 100)/L
• B = Height at symphysis[39]
• C = Thickness at 2d left molar[40]
• D = Diameter bigonial
• E = Minimum breadth of ramus
• F = Angle (mean)[41]
• G = Mean diameter (L + B)/2

FORAMEN MAGNUM

In respect to the foramen magnum, there is so much irregularity and so little special significance in the ratio between the two main diameters, length and breadth, that the writer prefers to use the mean measurement,

which stands in some relation to stature and probably to muscular development, and which may have more than passing interest in the study of racial and other groups. The average in the [Pg 32] Munsee is, as usual, perceptibly higher in the males than in the females. It is almost identical in both sexes with that of the Indian skeletal remains from the Louisiana mounds (Munsee, 7 males, 3.5; 8 females, 3.2: Louisiana, 10 males, 3.45; 14 females, 3.18 cm.), which were nearly alike in stature, but it is slightly superior to that of the Indians from Arkansas, who were also of practically the same height (Arkansas, 22 males, 3.3; 16 females, 3.14 cm.).

LOWER JAW

The measurements of the lower jaw show only moderate dimensions throughout. The angle (mean of the two sides, which usually differ somewhat in this respect) averages decidedly higher in the females (130°), which is not always the case in American crania. Thus among the Arkansas and Louisiana mound crania it averaged 118.5° in the males, or practically the same as in the Munsee; while it was only 122° in the females, or eight points lower than in the Munsee of the same sex.

Detailed Observations on the Crania

In visual examination of a series of crania or other bones of more than passing importance, general impressions are not sufficiently accurate or reliable; consequently, the writer habitually makes detailed notes of the principal features of each specimen in accordance with a definite though simple scheme. Such notes can be tabulated and analyzed almost as readily as measurements.

In choosing the points for observation, the only rule that can be formulated is to include everything of consequence, and to cover the whole specimen, which is not so easily accomplished as at first might seem. Some of the points touched upon in such a procedure will, of course, be of much less weight than others, but they serve to complete the picture and will doubtless be of some interest and value in future comparisons; while purely individual characteristics that might be included by some authors may be passed entirely.

The results of the detailed examination of the Munsee crania are as follow:

THE VAULT: FOREHEAD

The conditions found in respect to the frontal region will be clearly seen from the accompanying table. As general among Indians, this region in the Munsee skulls shows high development only in exceptional cases. In the males there is frequently more or less of a slope; in the females, where slope is rare, low foreheads prevail.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 11

MALE SKULL, NO. 99-6669, A.M.N.H.,
FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND
(VIEW FROM ABOVE),
SHOWING LONG OVOID OUTLINE

[Pg 33]

IX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: FRONTAL REGION

SAGITTAL REGION

The vault of the skull among Indians is frequently more or less arched or keeled, indicating strong development of the temporal muscles. This characteristic is of course much more frequent and pronounced in the males than in the females. The Munsee, it will be seen, show no exception in this respect. The elevation of the sagittal region is present in nearly all the males, although it is seldom pronounced. Among the females nearly half are without sagittal elevation, while in the remainder this feature is only slightly developed.

X.  MUNSEE CRANIA: SAGITTAL REGION

TEMPORO-PARIETAL REGION

The temporo-parietal region differs in convexity with the type of the skull, being usually quite flat in pronounced dilochocephaly and decidedly convex in marked brachycephaly. Besides this, it is also subject to individual and groupal variations. In the series at hand, in two-thirds of both the male and the female skulls the region is of about medium convexity. Among the remainder of the specimens it is rather interesting to note that while in a third of the cases in the males the region is flat and in no case bulging, these conditions are practically reversed in the females. The temporo-parietal region of the brain tended evidently to a greater relative development in the females of this series than in the males. [Pg 34]

XI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: TEMPORO-PARIETAL
REGION

OCCIPUT

When we eliminate all the cases that show any trace of artificial flattening of the back of the skull, there remain only a few specimens for observation. Among these, three-fourths show medium convexity of the occiput, while in one-fourth the region is protruding. There is no difference in this respect in the two sexes. The external occipital protuberance and the occipital ridges do not show especially strong development in any case, and barring a single instance of the occurrence of an Inca bone, which will be spoken of in another connection, there are no anomalies of this region to be recorded.

XII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: OCCIPUT
(IN THE UNDEFORMED)

SUTURES: SERRATION

The serration of the cranial sutures is of interest for the reason that in the skulls of whites and in superior skulls generally the knitting is often, though not invariably, quite complex, while in the majority of the skulls among the retarded races it is more or less simple and may occasionally be nearly absent. For the sake of simplicity in recording the nature of the sutures the writer refers to the serration as “medium,” or about as it averages in whites; “submedium,” which is self-explanatory; and “poor,” or such as approaches a simple wavy line. Among the Indians the sutures range mostly from submedium to more simple, and the Munsee skulls form no exception. As seen from the actual data not one case reaches the standard of medium complexity in all the sutures, while in a large proportion of the specimens the serration of most, if not all, is decidedly inferior. No special difference exists in this respect between the skulls of different sizes.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 12

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,308, U.S.N.M.
(FRONT VIEW)

[Pg 35]

XIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: SERRATION OF SUTURES

OCCLUSION OF SUTURES

In none of the specimens at hand can be detected any premature occlusion, though in this respect it is impossible to be certain as to the temporo-occipital articulations. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of giving the exact relation of age to the occlusion in any of the sutures; all that it is possible to determine is their relative involvement. The order among the males is S-C-TO-L;[43] that in the females, TO-S-C-L. It is plain that occlusions in the coronal and temporo-occipital sutures are almost as early and frequent as those in the sagittal, while those in the lambdoid are decidedly later. As to locality, the coronal suture occludes first below the temporal ridges; in the sagittal the commencement is most frequent, as usual, about obelion; in the lambdoid it is irregular; while in the temporo-occipitals in the Munsee it advances generally from the anterior or basal extremity of these sutures backward and upward.

XIV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: OCCLUSION OF SUTURES
(EXTERNALLY, ALL GRADES)

WORMIAN BONES

The frequency of Wormian bones in any given series of skulls, while a factor of no great importance, is always of some interest. It is certain that in this respect there is a wide difference even in different groups of the same people, such as the Indians. Among the Munsee, as already mentioned, we find a remarkable scarcity of these ossicles, especially in the males. Not only are the Wormian bones scarce [Pg 36] in this series, but they are also invariably small. This scarcity may in all probability be regarded as a sign of the absence of all disturbances, developmental as well as pathological.

XV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: WORMIAN BONES;
BREGMA AND “INCA” BONES

• LEGEND:
• A = Temporo-occipital
• B = Temporo-parietal (squamo-mastoid angle).

BREGMA AND INCA BONES

Among the 20 crania in which conditions with respect to these facts could be ascertained, there was found one bregma or fontanel bone (3 × 3.1 cm.), and one of the so-called Inca[44] bones (diameter, 8.3 × 3.5 cm.). There is nothing especially noteworthy in these occurrences, both of which, particularly the Inca bone, are of the nature of developmental anomalies.

Pterions.—Among the 19 Munsee skulls in which the pterions could be determined there was no case of temporo-frontal contact. In all instances the pterion was of the H type, predominantly narrow in the males and predominantly medium to broad in the females.

XVI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PTERIONS

PARIETAL FORAMINA

These are represented quite poorly. In almost half the skulls there are no parietal foramina at all, while in most of the remainder they range from very minute to medium size, of which latter there is a single instance, and in only one case are there two canals of medium size. The exact significance of this showing is not clearly understood. When present these canals transmit, as is well known, a small arteriole and an emissary vein which connects the venous systems within and without the wall of the skull.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 13

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,308, U.S.N.M.
(SIDE VIEW)

[Pg 37]

XVII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PARIETAL FORAMINA

RETROMASTOID FORAMINA

The retromastoid (“mastoid”) foramina are most often two in number—a larger and a smaller—one of which transmits a vein from the transverse sinus within to the cutaneous occipital vein on the outside of the skull wall, and the other a smaller branch of the occipital artery. Like the parietal foramina, they show considerable individual and groupal variation in both number and size. It is not uncommon in some Indian crania to find one of these canals to be of very appreciable diameter (up to 4 mm.). While in the Munsee skulls they appear almost generally two on each side, they are in no instance above moderate size, and in several cases are quite minute. Thus in these specimens the retromastoid foramina stand in harmonious rather than compensatory relation with the small or even absent parietal foramina.

XVIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA:
RETROMASTOID FORAMINA

MASTOIDS

The mastoid processes are mainly of importance as sexual characteristics. Their value in this respect, however, differs [Pg 38] considerably from racial group to group, and even within a single stem of people, such as the Indians. On the whole, however, it may be said that in the Indian female the mastoid is somewhat more developed than it is in the average white woman. Occasionally it is considerably more developed, reaching the subaverage or even the average dimensions of that of the males in the same tribe. The grade of development of the process is of course related to the strength and activity of the sternocleido-mastoid muscle, to which it gives attachment. Among the Munsee the size of the mastoids on the whole is only moderate; yet even in this series they rise in one of the female skulls to male-like proportions.

XIX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MASTOIDS

In one of the females (no. 285,309) the apex of the left mastoid is bifid. Well developed cases of this anomaly are rare; there are only three or four other Indian crania in the large collections of the United States National Museum in which it is well represented. In another female specimen (no. 285,304) the right mastoid shows a peculiar, marked indentation in the middle of its dorsal surface, with a groove extending therefrom upward and backward and downward and backward.

SUPRAORBITAL RIDGES

These ridges, as is well known, are sexual characteristics in the main; phylogenetically they are the remains of the pronounced supraorbital arches of man’s anthropoid ancestors and of early man. Like the mastoids they show also considerable individual variation in each sex among the Indians, owing to which they occasionally fail to afford aid in the determination of the sex of the specimen. As a rule they are limited in Indians to the median half to two-thirds of the supraorbital space. In the Munsee skulls at hand they are markedly developed in only one of the males; in two of the male skulls they are small, feminine like, while in two of the female skulls they are so developed as to approximate the supraorbital ridges of the average male.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 14

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,308, U.S.N.M.
(VIEW FROM ABOVE)

[Pg 39]

XX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: SUPRAORBITAL RIDGES

NASION DEPRESSION

The depression at the ridge of the nose is generally well marked in male Indian crania, but is mostly shallow in the female specimens. The depression is never narrow, like a deep line, as in some of the negroes; and in the females it is usually quite wide from above downward. The skulls of the series under consideration show nothing very exceptional in this respect.

XXI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: NASION DEPRESSION

NASAL BRIDGE

The development of the nasal bridge differs among the Indians more or less from tribe to tribe, hence it would be erroneous to assume that all Indians, or even a majority in some of the tribes, had high noses. On the other hand, the nasal bridge is never flat and short as in the negro. In the females, as among the whites, the bridge is generally lower than in the males. The observations on the Munsee, among 17 cases in which the bridge is preserved, show 10 of medium height and 7 submedium to low.

XXII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: NASAL BRIDGE

[Pg 40]

NASAL BONES

The chief feature of the nasal bones to which the student usually directs attention is their breadth. There is on this continent a frequency of especially narrow nasals among the Eskimo. Among the Indians, narrow nasal bones occur only exceptionally; more commonly they are rather broad, though the breadth is not excessive. In the present series we find them fairly broad in all the males and in two of the females; narrow (not excessively) in only two of the females.

XXIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: NASAL BONES

NASAL APERTURE

The features of chief interest with respect to the nasal aperture are the fullness or sharpness of the inferior borders, the presence or absence of subnasal fossæ or simian gutters, and pronounced asymmetry. Among the 19 Munsee skulls in which these features can be studied, there are only one instance of moderate grooves and three cases of moderate asymmetry. The lower borders are fairly sharp, more so than the average in many other Indians.

XXIV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: LOWER BORDERS
OF NASAL APERTURE

NASAL SPINE

On the whole the nasal spine reaches its most pronounced development, especially in height, in the modern whites. It is rudimentary or absent in the anthropoid apes, and seldom reaches marked development in the yellow-brown and black races. Among Indians it ranges from rudimentary or very low to fairly well developed. In the Munsee, as shown by the accompanying figures, it was mostly very low to submedium.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 15

UNDEFORMED TYPICAL FEMALE MUNSEE SKULL,
NO. 285,309, U.S.N.M.
(VIEW FROM ABOVE)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 16

MALE MUNSEE SKULL, NO. 285,306, U.S.N.M.,
SHOWING FINE OVOID OUTLINE

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 17

LARGE MALE SKULL, NO. 2010-4423, A.M.N.H.,
FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND,
SHOWING FINE ELLIPTICAL OUTLINE

[Pg 41]

XXV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: NASAL SPINE

ORBITS

In the majority of skulls under consideration, the orbits offer nothing special morphologically; in a number of instances, however, there is an exceptional conformation, the details of which are shown in the table which follows. The data accentuate the fact, already shown by the measurements, of the considerable range of fluctuation in these features, which, however, seems in this case to have little if any anthropological significance, although it may be due in part to admixture with other people.

XXVI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: ORBITS

SUBORBITAL FOSSÆ

These depressions in the upper maxillæ, which, strictly speaking, have only indirect relation to the canine teeth and do not deserve the old name of “canine fossæ,” are generally less well marked or hollowed out in the Indian than in whites, although there is considerable individual variation. In the Munsee, in more than half the skulls, they are shallow to very shallow.

XXVII.  MUNSEE CRANIA:
SUBORBITAL (CANINE) FOSSÆ

[Pg 42] These fossæ are of evolutionary significance. In the anthropoid apes they are either entirely wanting or very nearly so, the region being in fact often moderately convex; and the same is true, so far as the evidence is available, of early man to the latter part of the Neanderthal period.

MALAR BONES. ZYGOMÆ

The malars among the Munsee are of moderate development throughout, and none of the bones shows any complete or even appreciable partial division or other anomaly. The zygomatic processes are rather submedium in strength as compared with those of other Indians, particularly in the males.

In one of the male skulls (no. 285,313) the right zygoma is represented only by a pointed but otherwise unaltered base, the rest of the bone, up to the malar suture, being absent. In all probability this condition is the result of an old fracture, after which the larger part of the zygoma was lost or remained separated.

XXVIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: THE MALARS; ZYGOMÆ

UPPER ALVEOLAR ARCH

The main feature for observation of the upper dental arch is its slant or prognathism, and conditions in this respect have already been shown in the main by the measurements. The inspection confirms the fact that in three of the female skulls the arch must be described as markedly slanting. In two cases, in both of which the vault of the skull is artificially deformed, the arch is asymmetric; in one of these, however, the asymmetry is evidently due to early loss of some of the teeth. In no case is there any special massiveness of the arch.

XXIX.  MUNSEE CRANIA:
UPPER ALVEOLAR ARCH

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 18

ADULT MALE SKULL FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND,
NO. 99-6667, A.M.N.H.,
SHOWING AN EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH AND NARROW FACE

[Pg 43]

LOWER JAW

In 17 of the 20 Munsee skulls in which the lower jaw is present, the latter is of ordinary (Indian) dimensions and form; in one male and in one female it shows strong development. In a single instance only is the chin square; in the others it is moderately rounded. The prominence of the chin in all cases may be described as approximately medium.

XXX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: LOWER JAW

PALATE

The shape of the palate is determined by that of the upper dental arch. Of the skulls at hand, in 11 of the 22 cases the outlines of both the arch and the palate are elliptic, in 7 ovoid, and in 4 parabolic. The tendency toward the parabolic form is more marked in the females than in the males. The height of the palate shows nothing exceptional, and there is no torus worthy of notice.

XXXI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PALATE

BASE OF THE SKULL

Glenoid fossæ.—In general the glenoid fossæ of the Indian skulls resemble those among the whites, but there is considerable individual variation, particularly in spaciousness of the hollows. Among the 22 Munsee crania, in 14 the fossæ are of ordinary form and of about medium dimensions; in one they are narrow antero-posteriorly, in 4 wide; in 1 case their axis is decidedly oblique, and in 2 the fossæ differ in depth on the two sides. The wide fossæ are more frequent in the females. [Pg 44]

XXXII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: GLENOID FOSSÆ

Floor of auditory meatus.—Among the Indians, and particularly in the young, there are frequently found more or less pronounced defects or dehiscences (Hyrtl) in the floor of the auditory meatus. The frequency of these defects differs from locality to locality and probably from tribe to tribe. They are rather scarce in the Munsee, two-thirds of the crania showing no defect whatever, while of the remainder in only one instance was the perforation large. There seems to be a predominance of this condition in the females.

XXXIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: DEFECTS
IN FLOOR OF AUDITORY MEATUS

Styloid processes.—Among the Indians the styloid processes seldom reach good development, although there is some difference in this respect among the tribes. In a great majority of Indian crania the styloid processes are more or less diminutive, and not seldom they are quite rudimentary or even absent, in the latter case usually only small bases being discernible. In the Munsee only four of the twenty-two skulls show styloids which approach the medium or average in whites; in seven the processes are decidedly submedium; and in eleven they are rudimentary.

XXXIV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: STYLOID PROCESSES

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 19

BRACHYCEPHALIC EXTRANEOUS FEMALE SKULL,
NO. 285,311, U.S.N.M.
(VIEW FROM ABOVE),
FOUND WITH THE MUNSEE INDIANS

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 20

SKULL OF MUNSEE CHILD OF ABOUT SIX YEARS OF AGE,
NO. 285,329, U.S.N.M.,
SHOWING FRONTO-OCCIPITAL COMPRESSION

[Pg 45]

Middle lacerated foramina. Posterior lacerated foramina.—As repeatedly pointed out by the writer on former occasions, the middle lacerated foramina are structures of some importance. They are very small in the anthropoid apes, generally small in negro skulls, submedium to medium in the yellow-brown races and in less developed whites, and reach their maximum spaciousness in civilized modern white men. These differences are connected with the increase in the size of the brain. A growing brain not accompanied with a proportionate or equally rapid increase in the bony structures of the base of the skull (which seems to be most frequently the case) will cause a spreading and bulging of the basal parts, one result of which will be the increased size of the middle lacerated foramina. In the Munsee, in only two of the nineteen skulls in which the basal region is sufficiently well preserved for examination, the foramina about equal in size the average in whites; in nearly half of the remaining skulls they are submedium, and in slightly more than half they are small.

XXXV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MIDDLE LACERATED FORAMINA;
POSTERIOR LACERATED FORAMINA

The posterior lacerated or jugular foramina are of interest chiefly because of their frequent and often marked inequality in size, which signifies inequality in the size of the lateral sinuses and especially of the internal jugular veins. The right foramen is frequently larger than the left, a phenomenon which has been associated with the prevailing right-handedness in man. In the nineteen Munsee skulls in which the foramina could be examined, they are of about equal size in only two instances; the right is larger in thirteen, or in two-thirds of the cases, while the left is the larger in only four instances. As the proportion of left-handed persons among the Indians averages only about three per cent, it is evident that in some instances the relation between a larger jugular canal and habitual greater use of the arm of the same side would not maintain; besides, we know the motor centers for the right arm and hand to be on the left side of the brain. Possibly greater blood pressure on the right side in right-handed [Pg 46] persons, due directly and mechanically to the greater muscular activity on that side, would be a more satisfactory explanation.

Depressions of the petrous portions.—In examining the petrous parts in the usual way, with the skull turned base upward, it is observed that in modern men of all races, in the majority of cases, these parts are more or less depressed below the niveau of the surrounding parts. In reality, of course, the surrounding parts have been pressed outward by the developing brain, while the prismatic and resistant petrous parts remained behind. The grade of depression of the petrous parts stands generally in close correlation with the size of the middle lacerated foramina and is of parallel significance.[45] Among the anthropoid apes even a slight depression of the petrous portions is very rare, and most frequently, especially in the orang, these portions rise slightly above the surrounding structures. In the African negro, and occasionally in individual skulls of other inferior races, they are level with the surrounding parts. In better developed negro skulls, as in the majority of those of other primitive peoples, they are slightly to moderately depressed. In white men, and in superior skulls in general, the depression is frequently pronounced, especially, it seems, in the brachycephals. The Indian stands in a practically intermediate position between superior whites and the negroes, and the Munsee are no exception. In two of the skulls the depression is well marked; in three males and seven females it is less than the average in whites; and in two males and five females it is only slight. The females, it will be noted, make a poorer showing in this respect than the males.

XXXVI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: DEPRESSION OF
PETROUS PORTIONS

Pterygo-basal foramina. Posterior condylic foramina.—Interesting features of the base of the skull, to which Gruber and (in this country) Harrison Allen have called attention, are the foramina found occasionally at the base (or proximal part) of the external pterygoid plates. These foramina are seldom complete. They may be single, double, or even triple. They are formed by a process or by processes of bone which proceed upward and backward, and in some cases more or less outward, from the border of the external pterygoid plate. According to the insertion of these processes, the foramina to which [Pg 47] they give rise can be divided into two classes, namely, the more frequent pterygo-spinous and the rarer pterygo-sphenoidal.

Their significance is not yet so clearly understood as is desirable. They are of some anthropological interest and occur quite frequently among Indians, especially in certain localities. Among the Munsee they were rather scarce, particularly in the females.

XXXVII.  MUNSEE CRANIA:
PTERYGO-BASAL FORAMINA;
POSTERIOR CONDYLIC FORAMINA

Posterior condylic foramina.—These are canals which transmit the posterior condylic vein and are of interest only because of their more or less frequent absence from one or both sides in different racial groups. In the Munsee they are exceptionally normal, as will be seen from the preceding figures.

MISCELLANEOUS ANOMALIES

In addition to the peculiarities shown in the preceding paragraphs, the Munsee skulls present a number of anomalous conditions which deserve to be mentioned.

In male skull no. 285,306 the right occipital condyle is flat, the left being normal; there was no injury or arthritis.

In male skull no. 285,326 there is an accessory facet posteriorly to the left condyle.

In female skull no. 285,311 there are two moderate precondylar tubercles.

In male skull no. 285,313 and female skull no. 285,312 there is a moderate medio-basilar (“pharyngeal”) fossa.

In female skull no. 285,320 the carotid canals in the petrous parts are usually large, measuring 7 mm. in major diameter.

In female skull no. 285,311 a canal, 6 by 4.5 mm., is present just posteriorly to the right angular process, in the frontal bone and the spheno-frontal suture. [Pg 48]

Finally, there is a series of anomalies relating to the spinous and oval foramina. They are as follows:

Male skull no. 285,303: The median wall of the left foramina spinosum and ovale is deficient.

Female skull no. 285,310: Median wall of right spinous foramen deficient.

Female skull no. 285,347: Median wall of left spinous foramen deficient.

Female skull no. 285,320: Median wall of each spinous foramen deficient.

Female skull no. 285,323: Right foramina spinosum and ovale connected, and the median wall of both deficient.

Female skull no. 285,311: The left foramen ovale is unusually large, 8.5 by 4.5 mm., while the right is enormous, 10 by 8 mm. (pl. 21).

The Teeth

Dentition.—Of the 22 skulls of Munsee adults at hand it is possible to ascertain the state of dentition in 14. In 11 of these cases there were 32 teeth in each, while in three there were 31. The congenital deficiency consisted in one case of the third left upper molar; in the second, the third left upper molar is completely absent, while the right corresponding tooth is rudimentary; and in the third there is a congenital absence of the left lower lateral incisor, while on the right side we find the very rare condition of a complete fusion of the lower lateral incisor and the canine (pl. 22).

Loss and decay.—Teeth lost through caries and the presence of decay are common in this series, more so than in other Indian groups. Among the males, 13 per cent of all the teeth were lost in life, while 12 per cent of those still present show more or less decay; among the females 21 per cent were lost in life and 16 per cent of those present show caries—this notwithstanding the fact that the average age of the female skulls was less than that of the males. The teeth lost or affected were mostly the molars, especially those in the lower jaw.

Wear.—In every instance the remaining teeth show more or less pronounced effects of wear. Where the wear is advanced, it is generally also irregular. The detailed notes show that the wear is slight in eight, moderate in five, and advanced in nine of the 22 specimens.

Size, quality, shovel-shaped incisors.—In size the Munsee teeth in all cases are medium. Where not decayed or worn off they show invariably regular and normal development. The upper incisors present in every case the cingulum which gives their lingual surface a more or less pronounced shovel-shaped character, common to and characteristic of all Indians, with rare individual exceptions.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 21

BASE OF FEMALE SKULL NO. 285,311, U.S.N.M.
(BRACHYCEPHALIC EXTRANEOUS),
FOUND AMONG THE MUNSEE BURIALS,
SHOWING EXCESSIVE SIZE OF THE FORAMINA OVALE,
ESPECIALLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 22

LOWER JAW OF FEMALE MUNSEE SKULL NO. 285,307, U.S.N.M.,
SHOWING COMPLETE FUSION OF THE
RIGHT LOWER LATERAL INCISOR AND CANINE

[Pg 49]

Anomalies.—The anomalies of the teeth are always of considerable interest, being mainly either reversive or degenerative (progressively) in character. The skulls observed indicate the following conditions:

Male no. 285,301: A small supernumerary tooth between and on the labial side of the left lower second and third molars. The lateral upper incisors in this skull are somewhat abnormal lingually, their surface appearing as if rolled together from side to side, so that the tooth is cylindrical in form and its shovel-like hollow has become almost a cavity.

In male no. 285,303: The third right upper molar is diminutive.

In male no. 285,305: The third lower right molar is impacted, its vertical axis tending forward and upward.

In male no. 285,326: The third right upper molar is diminutive.

In female no. 285,305 is present the aforementioned fusion of the right lower lateral incisor and canine. The resultant tooth appears like a broad stout incisor (pl. 22).

In female no. 285,310: The crown of the right lower third molar is unusually large (13.5 mm. long by 12 mm. broad) and looks like that of a fused double tooth, but both first and second molars are present. The opposite tooth is also larger than ordinary, but the upper corresponding teeth are normal.

Finally, in no. 285,311 the third right upper molar is rudimentary.

Cuspids.—Many of the molars present were so worn that a determination of their cuspid formulæ was impossible. The better preserved teeth showed the interesting conditions detailed in the following table:

XXXVIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MOLARS;
CUSPIDARY FORMULÆ

Upper Molars

It will be observed that the 29 first upper molars have all four regular cusps, while all the first lower molars have five. The second upper molars vary in the males, but show all three ordinary and one small cusp (the posterior lingual) in the females. The wisdom teeth fluctuate considerably in both sexes, both as to size and to form.

Summary of Measurements and
Observations on the Crania

A summary of the results of the examination and measurements of the Munsee skulls includes the following points of interest:

A number of the specimens show traces of intentional fronto-occipital deformation, which is completely absent among other Indian tribes of the northeastern and Middle Atlantic States; and several of the skulls are of distinctly extraneous type. Both of these conditions point to admixture, which in all probability came from the southwestward and may have been due to Shawnee influence during the last few decades of the occupancy by the Munsee of the upper Delaware.

The crania that can be safely accepted as belonging to the Munsee themselves, and which are not deformed, are characterized by moderate dolichocephaly to mesocephaly and a high vault. They are not thick-walled and show fair capacity. [Pg 51]

The face is of moderate dimensions and lacks prognathism. The facial index ranges from mild chamœprosopy to mild leptoprosopy.

The orbits are very variable, but the majority are mesoseme.

The nose is rather short, but fairly broad; the average index is mesorhinic.

The palate is of only moderate length, but fairly broad; its index in both sexes is brachy-uranic.

The lower jaw is of moderate dimensions throughout.

The teeth are medium in size.

Descriptive features.—The forehead is chiefly of medium development in the males, in the females frequently somewhat low.

The sagittal region shows more or less arching, in no case extreme; the temporo-parietal region and the occiput present mostly medium forms.

Serration of cranial sutures is submedium to very submedium. Wormian and other intercalated bones are scarce. The order of occlusion of sutures among the males was S-C-TO-L; among the females TO-S-C-L (see page 35).

The pterions are all of the H type, with tendency to narrow in males, medium to broad in females.

Parietal foramina are few in number and small, retromastoid foramina moderate to small.

The mastoid processes and the supraorbital ridges present ordinary development and variation; no excess.

The nasion depression is well marked in the males, mostly shallow in the females; nasal bridge is medium to submedium, nasal bones of fair breadth; lower borders of the nasal aperture are mostly fairly sharp, and with one exception there are no simian grooves or subnasal fossæ; nasal spine ranges from very low to submedium.

The orbits show exceptional variation in form, as they do in measurements; suborbital (canine) fossæ are shallow to medium; malar bones are of but moderate development, without anomalies; zygomæ average somewhat submedium as compared with those of other Indians.

The upper alveolar arch is mostly of very moderate slant and free from abnormalities. The lower jaw is of ordinary form, without anomalies. The palate in half the cases is elliptic, in two-thirds of the remainder ovoid, and in one-third parabolic; it is in no case exceptionally low or very high, and there is no torus.

Base.—The glenoid fossæ in a majority of the crania show usual form and medium dimensions, but tend to wideness in a number of the females; dehiscences in the floor of the auditory meatus are, for Indians, scarce.

The styloid processes reach medium development in but few instances, and they are frequently rudimentary. [Pg 52]

The middle lacerated foramina are mostly submedium to small; depression of petrous portions prevalently submedium to slight. The posterior lacerated or jugular foramina are, as usual, in a majority of the cases larger on the right side. Pterygo-basal foramina are scarce.

Anomalies observed on the skulls pertain mostly to the basal structures, particularly the condyles and the sphenoidal foramina.

Teeth.—Dentition was remarkably regular, but decay and loss of teeth in life were relatively more frequent than in other Indians; upper incisors, especially the middle, are shovel-shaped lingually, as usual in Indians. More or less wear of the teeth in the adults is present in every instance. Dental anomalies, while few in number, comprise a case of special interest: a perfect fusion of canine and incisor.

By reason of the care with which the bones were collected from the Minisink cemetery, those of the different adult skeletons were kept apart as found and are thus perfectly identifiable as to individuals. Excluding those of adolescents and children, there are present the bones of 32 adult skeletons, and in the majority of cases these are almost complete. Of these 32 individuals, 17 were male and 15 female, thus affording a fair series for comparison.

The bones in general are practically normal and almost free from important anomalies. They indicate people of medium to somewhat above medium stature, and of good though not excessive muscular development. In their morphological features they approximate in many respects the bones of whites, yet differ in numerous interesting particulars.

Although a number of the subjects represented by the skeletal remains were old people, there is an absence of light bones or of other evidences of senility. The proportion of such bones in modern whites is in fact much larger than among any of the Indians, either prehistoric or modern, a fact of considerable physiological importance.

Humerus

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

There are present 46 adult humeri, mostly perfect and almost all paired. The principal measurements of these are given in the following table: [Pg 53]

XXXIX.  MUNSEE: HUMERI

The averages are in no way exceptional. Reference to the writer’s report on the Indian skeletal remains from Arkansas and Louisiana[50] will show that the humeri of that collection had practically the same dimensions.

The relation of the average of paired female humeri to that of paired male humeri is as 94.2 to 100, which is somewhat higher than existed among the Arkansas and Louisiana Indians (91.34 for 86 humeri), among Indians in general (91.2 for 602 humeri), and also among whites (91.8 for 2,700 humeri), but is lower than in the American negro (94.6 for 164 humeri). As no error in the sexual identification entered into the present series, the disparity here shown is difficult to explain, except perhaps by the result of some peculiar local occupational differences in the two sexes or a local hereditary multiplication of an individual peculiarity. [Pg 54]

The right and left humeri are of practically the same length in the males, while in the females the average of the left bones is slightly inferior to that of the right, as is usual in most Indian tribes and also among the white and other races. The equal length of the arm bones in the males indicates probably a lack of specialized occupation.

The dimensions of the shaft of the humerus at the middle and their percental relation or index are interesting in several respects, as shown by the following data:

XL.  COMPARISON IN DIMENSIONS OF MUNSEE
WITH OTHER RACIAL HUMERI

In the first place it will be seen that although the Munsee arm bones are practically of the same average length as those of the miscellaneous American whites, their strength in both sexes, and especially in the males, is greater in the whites. It will further be noted that the disproportion is especially pronounced in the thickness of the bone, the humerus of whites, both male and female, being the stouter, as a result of which the shaft index is decidedly higher in the whites than in the Indians—the Munsee humerus, in other words, is more platybrachic. Much the same distinction exists between the Munsee humeri and those of the American negro; while on the other hand it will be noted that in this respect there is close harmony between the Munsee and other Indians.

Referring again to the table on page 53, and contrasting the bones of the two sides, it will be observed that the left humerus in both sexes is on the average weaker, though the difference is quite small; also that the shaft index in both sexes is larger on the left side. Exactly the same conditions have been observed by the writer on the several series of arm bones of whites and negroes, and also on other Indians, as are presented in preceding tables, which fact shows that we are dealing with no accidental phenomena. The difference in the index between the two sides is due exclusively to the relatively greater breadth (i. e., the antero-posterior diameter) of the right bone, the thickness of the humerus being very nearly the same on the two sides of the body.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 23

SUPRACONDYLOID PROCESS IN A FEMUR, AND A SPURIOUS
SUPRACONDYLOID FORAMEN IN A HUMERUS OF THE MUNSEE

[Pg 55]

DETAILED OBSERVATIONS

Shape of the shaft.—A number of years ago the writer[51] called attention to the fact that in transverse sections at the middle the long-bones show each a considerable variety in the shape of the shaft, and that these varieties can be reduced for each bone to several distinct types of both functional and racial significance. As to the humeri, the most frequent shapes are the p. c., plano-convex or infantile form; type 1, or ordinary prismatic; type 2, lateral prismatic; and type 4, in which the anterior border is broadened out to a distinct fourth surface.

Among the Munsee the occurrence of shapes was as follows:

XLI.  MUNSEE HUMERI: SHAPE OF SHAFT

The most frequent shape is the ordinary prismatic; the next in frequency is the plano-convex; the lateral prismatic is the least common. The significance of these conditions must be left for future consideration, when our data, especially on the American Indians, are more extensive.

Perforation of the septum.—The septum between the olecranon and coronoid fossæ in Indians often shows a smaller or a larger perforation. The frequency of this developmental anomaly or condition differs from tribe to tribe, and it differs also between the sexes, being as a rule more common in females. In the Munsee male humeri only six instances of such perforation exist, three in right and three in left bones, the total amounting to 22 per cent of the bones. In only one instance is the opening large; in three it is medium; in one small, and in one of pin-point size. In the 29 female humeri which could be examined for this feature the conditions are quite different, the perforation being present in no fewer than 17 cases, or nearly 59 per cent of the bones. Eight of the 17 are right (47 per cent), nine left (53 per cent). As to size of the perforation, one is pin-point, eight small, and eight medium; none is large. [Pg 56]

Supracondyloid process.—This process, which in a more or less rudimentary form, and especially in the form of a ridge, is not rare in whites, is very uncommon in the Indians, though even in this race in the majority of humeri some roughness, or even a slight ridge, can be detected in its position. Among the Munsee humeri no specimen shows more than a trace of the anomaly.

The rarity of this process in the Indian is of additional interest from the fact that it seems to be shared by other branches of the yellow-brown race, and also by the blacks; moreover, the process appears to be absent, or nearly so, in the humeri of all known apes. The problem as to why a feature of this nature, which appears clearly to be reversive, should be more common in modern whites than in the more primitive races and even in the anthropoid apes and the lower primates, offers a fruitful field for investigation.

Radius

The total number of radii in condition to be measured is 41, 19 male and 22 female. Taking the paired bones in the males, we find that their length is equal on the two sides, as was very nearly the case with the humeri; in the females the right radius averages slightly longer than the left, again as in the arm bones of this sex. The arms as a whole were therefore of very nearly the same length on the two sides in the males, but the right was generally slightly longer than the left in the females, a condition which in all probability was connected with the relatively greater use of the right hand and arm in the latter sex.

The percental relation between the length of the radius and that of the humerus approximates 79 on both sides in the males and 78 in the females. Indians of other localities show much the same condition, the index approximating in the males 78 on both sides and in the females 77 on both sides. In whites the same index is only 73.6 in the males and 72.8 in the females; while the American negro gave to the writer 77.4 for the male and 76.8 for the female sex. This means that the forearm in the Munsee and in Indians generally is relatively long; it is decidedly longer in relation to the humerus than in the whites, and so far as the Munsee are concerned it is even slightly longer than in the average American negro; and in all the groups it is to a slight extent relatively longer in the males than in the females.

In strength, curvature, and other features the Munsee radii show nothing exceptional. In fact, this bone is of secondary importance in the anthropology of modern races except in its relative proportions. [Pg 57]

XLII.  MUNSEE: RADIUS

• LEGEND:
• A = Radio-humeral index (R × 100)/H

Ulna

Like the radius, the Munsee ulna shows nothing specially noteworthy as regards its form. The curvature is moderate, as a rule, and so is the strength of the bone. The dimensions are presented in table XLIII.

As with the other two long-bones of the upper limb, the length of the ulna is practically the same on the two sides in the males, and slightly shorter on the left than on the right in the females.

XLIII.  MUNSEE: ULNA

[Pg 58]

Femur

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

The total number of adult femora in condition for measurement is 60—33 males, 27 females.

The bones, as a rule, are normally developed and with one exception free from anomalies. The exception is the left femur of male subject no. 285,301, which shows a large spinous process on the mesial border of the bone above the internal condyle (proc. supracondyloideus femoris), as exhibited in plate 23. The linea aspera, while mostly well developed, is in no case exceptionally high. The curvature and torsion show nothing exceptional.

MEASUREMENTS

As this is the most important of the long-bones, a number of measurements besides the length were taken, as indicated below.

The mean bicondylar length of the Munsee femora, taking both sides together, is 45.5 cm. in the males and 42 cm. in the females. Judging from observations on whites and on other Indians, these lengths correspond to the average stature of approximately 167 cm. in the male and 156 cm. in the female Munsee. These figures are very close to those obtained by the help of the well-known Manouvrier and Rochet tables, and may therefore be safely accepted. They show that the Munsee were somewhat above the medium, but not really tall in stature.

XLIV.  MUNSEE: FEMORA

• LEGEND:
• A = Number of bones
• B = Length bicondylar
• C = Length maximum
• D = Number of cases
• E = Humero-Femoral Index (H × 100)/F
• F = Number of cases
• G = Diameter antero-posterior at middle[52] (a)
• H = Diameter lateral at middle[53] (b)
• I = Index of shaft (b × 100/a)
• J = Number of cases
• K = Maximum (c)
• L = Minimum (d)
• M = Platymeric index (d × 100)/c
• N = Diameters at upper flattening

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62 PLATE 24

FUSION OF HUMERUS AND ULNA;
MALE MUNSEE SKELETON, NO. 285,303, U.S.N.M

[Pg 59]

• LEGEND:
• A = Number of bones
• B = Length bicondylar
• C = Length maximum
• D = Number of cases
• E = Humero-Femoral Index (H × 100)/F
• F = Number of cases
• G = Diameter antero-posterior at middle[54] (a)
• H = Diameter lateral at middle[55] (b)
• I = Index of shaft (b × 100)/a
• J = Number of cases
• K = Maximum (c)
• L = Minimum (d)
• M = Platymeric index (d × 100)/c
• N = Diameters at upper flattening

The two lengths of the femur, the bicondylar and the maximum, differ somewhat as a rule in favor of the latter. The difference is due and proportional to the inclination of the axis of the shaft and the development of the internal condyle, and ranges in different individuals from 0.5 mm. to 15 mm. In whites in all the groups studied it is moderate, not reaching 4 mm. in the average. In the American negro (who often has some white blood), the disproportion between the two lengths is slightly higher than in the whites, but additional observations are needed. Among Indians, however, the difference is perceptibly higher than among the whites, and is especially pronounced among the Munsee, where it reaches the average of nearly 5 mm. in the males (taking the mean of the two sides) and 6 mm. in the females. As the Munsee bones are perfectly normal, the explanation of this peculiarity must be sought either in an unusual breadth of the pelvis or in a somewhat greater length of the neck of the femur, and may be connected with some functional characteristic of these people, such as possibly a more than usual prevalence of the habit of squatting. [Pg 60]

XLV.  MUNSEE AND OTHER FEMORA:
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE BICONDYLAR
AND MAXIMUM LENGTH OF THE BONES

The difference between the maximum and bicondylar length of the femur in some racial groups averages greater in the females than in the males, while in others the condition is reversed. Among the Munsee the females show the greater difference (6 mm. to slightly less than 5 mm. in the males); but this peculiarity is not shared by other Indian groups. A condition similar to that of the Munsee exists in this respect among the United States whites, where the difference between the two lengths averages 3.8 mm. in the females and only 2.8 mm. in the males; while among the Italians, and to a less extent the negroes, the disproportion is greater in the males (Italians: m. 2.8, f. 2.35 mm; negroes: m. 3.6, f. 3.35 mm.). The excess of the difference in males in these groups was unexpected, the usual impression being that the axis of the female femur is generally more oblique than that of the male; and the more oblique the axis, the greater should be the difference between the bicondylar and maximum length of the bone.

As to the two sides of the body, in the majority of the groups whose femora were studied, greater average differences were found between the two lengths of the bone on the right than on the left; in a few groups, however, such as the Munsee, the United States whites, and the United States negro females, the condition was reversed.

These interesting conditions and exceptions make it probable that an extended special study of the relations of the two femoral lengths would be well repaid by the results.

The relation in bicondylar length of the Munsee female to the male femora is as 92.7 to 100, and practically the same result was obtained in other Indians (92.65 to 100). In United States whites the proportion is as 93 to 100; in American negroes, as 93.1 to 100. These are striking similarities in people so far apart racially. [Pg 61]

HUMERO-FEMORAL INDEX

The percental relation in length of the femur to the humerus in the Munsee, the humero-femoral index

approximates in both sexes 72, which is very near the average in human races generally. The similarity of this important relation in different racial groups, as may be seen from the measurements by the writer in the next table, is quite remarkable.

As a rule the humero-femoral index is in both sexes slightly higher on the right than on the left side, and the Munsee form no exception in this particular. As to sex, while in all branches of the whites, as well as in the United States negroes, the male index on both sides is slightly higher, in the Munsee, as well as in other Indians, the index in the male is slightly lower than that in the female. These features are all connected, of course, with the peculiarities of the length of the Indian humerus as well as the femur, outlined in other chapters.

XLVI.  HUMERO-FEMORAL INDEX IN THE MUNSEE
AND IN OTHER RACIAL GROUPS

THE SHAFT

The measurements taken at the middle of the shaft in the Munsee femora indicate generally a moderate development. The mean diameter is smaller in both sexes than it is in ordinary American whites and negroes[56] of the same stature. The same condition, though in a somewhat lesser degree, was observable in the Arkansas and Louisiana Indian femora, and there are reasons to believe that it is common to other Indian tribes, if not general in the race. The whites and negroes used here for comparison are of course those of the working classes, or such as find their way into dissecting rooms.

As to the strength of the femur on the two sides of the body, the difference in the Munsee, as well as in other Indians and racial groups, is very small. However, in the males a slightly higher average mean diameter is seen in the left femur, while in the females the [Pg 62] condition is reversed. Curiously the same slight excess in strength of the left femur in the male and of the right in the female is exhibited also by the United States whites, while in the United States negroes, in both sexes, the bones of the two sides are exactly equal, as is shown in the following table:

XLVII.  STRENGTH OF THE FEMUR ON
THE TWO SIDES OF THE BODY

Taking the antero-posterior and lateral diameters at the middle of the shaft separately, we find several more interesting points. The antero-posterior diameter in the Munsee (and the same is true of the United States whites and United States negroes, as will be seen by the following table) is practically equivalent in the right and left femora in the males; but except in the whites it is perceptibly smaller on the left side in the females of all groups. On the other hand, the lateral diameter, excepting in the probably too small male negro series, is invariably larger on the left than on the right side in both males and females. Thus it may be said that the left femur is almost invariably slightly broader on the average than the right, and this especially in the females of probably all racial groups.

These interesting conditions are most clearly shown by the shaft index

which in both sexes and in all the racial subdivisions is higher on the left side.

The index in the Munsee femora is noteworthy in another respect: It is decidedly smaller in both sexes of this group than it is in the American negro and especially in the United States whites. Judging from data on other Indians in the writer’s possession, it seems very probable that the characteristic shown by the Munsee in this regard is common to Indians in general. As may be seen by reference to the figures in the following table, the low shaft index in the Munsee is due entirely to smaller breadth; the Munsee femur is relatively narrower than that of both whites and negroes. [Pg 63]

XLVIII.  COMPARISON OF THE PROPORTIONS AND INDEX OF THE SHAFT
OF THE FEMUR AT MIDDLE, IN MUNSEE, WHITES,
AND NEGROES. PAIRED BONES

PLATYMERY

Another anthropologically important region of the femur is the subtrochanteric flattening, which, as well known, has been studied in whites and in other races by Manouvrier and other observers.[57] The flattening in question is situated below the minor trochanter, reaching its maximum at approximately 3 cm. below that point. It yields itself to two measurements, the maximum and the minimum diameter, and the percental relation of the latter to the former constitutes the platymeric index. This index is generally quite high in whites, in whom the flattening is but moderate.

The next table shows the conditions found in this respect with regard to the Munsee, the United States whites, and the United States negroes. [Pg 64]

XLIX.  COMPARISON OF THE PROPORTIONS AND INDEX OF
THE SHAFT OF THE FEMUR AT THE SUBTROCHANTERIC
FLATTENING, IN THE MUNSEE, WHITES, AND NEGROES.
PAIRED BONES

It will be observed, in the first place, that at the middle of the shaft the mean of the two diameters at the upper flattening in the Munsee is smaller in both sexes and on both sides than that in either the whites or the negroes, thus indicating that the bone is more slender.

The most striking points brought out by the data are, however, those relating to the degree of the flattening in the subtrochanteric region in the different racial groups. The Munsee femora are decidedly flatter than those of the whites, which in turn are slightly flatter than those of the negro. As a result the platymeric index in the Munsee is considerably below that in both the other races.

Taking the two diameters separately it will be observed that the diameter maximum or breadth is frequently larger in the left than in the right femur. This is true in both sexes among the Munsee and in the white females and negro males. In the white males the measurement is equal on the two sides, and in the negro females it is slightly larger on the right than on the left. In all probability the tendency of the left femur to be slightly broader than the right at the subtrochanteric flattening is quite universal. [Pg 65]

The lateral diameter or thickness is also slightly larger in the left femur in nearly all the racial and sex groups, but the excess is less than with the breadth. It is thus evident that the left femur at this point is in general slightly stronger than the right. But, as already indicated, the mean excess in breadth is mostly greater than that in thickness, the result of which in most of the groups is a slightly lower platymeric index on the left side.

As to sexes, the platymeric index in the Munsee is slightly higher on both sides in the females than in the males. This is exceptional for Indians, the condition being usually the reverse. In the United States whites and United States negroes, and in Indian tribes other than the Munsee examined by the writer, the male femur as a rule gives a somewhat higher average index on both sides than the female, indicating that the flattening in the male is of lesser degree.

As to the sides, in the majority of the groups, and particularly in the Munsee, the right platymeric index is slightly higher than the left. In the Arkansas and Louisiana Indians it was very nearly equal on the two sides in both sexes. In the series of United States white males used here for comparison, and in the United States negro females, the right index is higher. Evidently, while the preponderant tendency is for the right platymeric index to be slightly higher than the left, there are not infrequent exceptions, but the differences are not of much importance.

To summarize, it may be stated that at the subtrochanteric flattening the Munsee femur shows a decidedly greater compression than the femora of the United States whites, and especially those of United States negroes; it shows a slightly greater relative flatness in the male than in the female, which is exceptional; and in the majority of cases it is relatively slightly flatter on the left than on the right side of the body.

These details may seem rather involved, and perhaps in some instances of no great consequence. But when at some time we shall be able to examine scores of records where we have now but few, and each series of records extending to hundreds instead of to only tens of specimens, the above points will assume a definite morphological importance, demonstrating on the one side the presence of astonishingly uniform and persistent laws relating even to secondary characteristics of bones, and, on the other, to clear, conspicuous, racial sexual and other group differences.

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FEMORA

As to special descriptive characteristics of the Munsee femora, special attention was paid to the linea aspera, the shape of the shaft at middle, and the presence and development of the third trochanter. [Pg 66]

Linea aspera.—The linea aspera was found to be generally well developed, but seldom high and in no case excessively rough, indicating well but not exceptionally developed musculature.

Shape of the shaft.—As to the shape of the shaft at middle, in a fourth of the males and in nearly half the females this was found to be more or less prismatic, and in 9 per cent of the males and 7.5 per cent of the females, plano-convex; the remainder of the bones showing, with one exception, intermediary or not well-defined shapes. None of the femora present the cylindrical (juvenile) type, or type 4 (anterior surface divided in two by a long vertical ridge), and in but one bone is the shape clearly elliptical. Among the whites the last named (elliptical) form is much more common, while the plano-convex type is less frequent than in the Indians.[58]

Third trochanter.—Respecting the third trochanter, this presents itself as a more or less marked ridge, or an oblong tuberosity, or a round tuberosity; and in any of these forms it may be slight, medium, or pronounced. In some instances there will be found a depression, instead of an elevation, in the bone at or near this locality. These different forms have no separate morphological significance. They all serve for or are due to the attachment of the gluteus maximus muscle, and merge into each other by transitional stages. In the Munsee, conditions in regard to the third trochanter were as follows:

L.  MUNSEE AND WHITE FEMORA: THIRD TROCHANTER
OR GLUTEAL TUBEROSITY

It is here seen that the third trochanter is strictly absent in less than a third of the male as well as of the female bones of the Munsee; a small to pronounced oblong tuberosity exists in 26 per cent of the males, and practically the same proportion (25.5 per cent) of the females, while a rounded tuberosity is found in 6 per cent of the males and in 7 per cent of the females. Among the previously reported Arkansas and Louisiana Indian femora, the frequency of the third trochanter in most of its forms was somewhat greater. Among the ordinary American whites, it will be observed from the above figures, there is in both sexes a more frequent complete absence of the third [Pg 67] trochanter in any form than in the Munsee; there is less frequency of the moderate ridge and moderate oblong tuberosity; and a greater frequency of pronounced grades of both ridge and oblong tuberosity, while the occurrence of round tuberosity is about even in the two groups. Subtrochanteric fossa in place of or beside a prominence was observed in Munsee adults in five cases—four males and one female. In adolescents it was more frequent.

Tibia

The results of the several measurements obtained on the Munsee tibiæ are shown below.

The mean length of the bone, taking the two sides together, is 38.5 cm. in the males and 35.3 cm. in the females. The length of the female bone stands to that of the male as 91.7 to 100, which is lower than was obtained on the tibiæ from Louisiana, where the proportion was 93.7, or than that prevailing among whites, where it is even slightly higher (94.6 in miscellaneous New York whites). The Munsee female tibiæ are therefore relatively somewhat short, paralleling to some extent what was found with reference to the radius. Lesser differences of the same nature is found in probably all larger racial groups. Why the feature should be more pronounced in the Munsee than in other Indians is difficult of explanation; but, as will be seen later, this is not the only peculiarity of the female Munsee tibiæ.

LI.  MUNSEE: TIBIÆ

• LEGEND:
• A = Length[59]
• B = Diameter[60] antero-posterior at middle (a)
• C = Diameter[61] lateral at middle (b)
• D = Index of shaft at middle (b×100/a)
• E = Tibio-femoral index (T×100/F)

As to the two sides, the Munsee left tibia averages somewhat longer in the males than the right, which on the whole in slight measure is also the condition among the whites, but to which individual and even group exceptions are not infrequent. In the Munsee females, on the other hand, the average length of the left tibia is slightly less (by 1 mm.) than that of the right.

The percental relation of the length of the tibia with the bicondylar length of the femur, or the tibio-femoral index, averages in whites approximately 82 in the males and slightly less in the females. In the Munsee it is somewhat more elevated in both sexes. As in the whites and other racial groups, a moderate excess of the male over the female index is present on both sides, indicating the slightly greater relative shortness of the female leg bones aforementioned. Judging from the available data on the tibio-femoral index among other Indians,[62] that in the Munsee comes very near to the average of the race.

The strength of the Munsee tibia (and the same is probably true of many other Indian tribes) is surprising, being nearer that of the whites than is the case with either the humerus or the femur. The antero-posterior diameter of the Indian tibia is, in fact, in almost all the Indian groups somewhat greater than in the whites. The index of the shaft is invariably and quite perceptibly lower in the Indians than [Pg 69] in the whites, excepting the Munsee females, in whom, curiously enough, the index is relatively quite high, exceeding both that of the other Indians available for comparison and of the whites. No satisfactory explanation of this and other exceptional features of the Munsee tibia can be given. The condition can scarcely be regarded as accidental, for on examining the individual shaft indexes it is observed that in but one of the female bones is the index below 60, giving thus a pronounced platycnemy; in five it is between 60 and 70; in ten between 70 and 80, and in no fewer than eleven it rises to 80 or over. Among the twenty-nine male Munsee tibiæ there is but one that gives a shaft index of slightly above 80.

LII.  MEAN DIMENSIONS OF THE TIBIA
(THE TWO SIDES BEING TAKEN TOGETHER)
IN THE MUNSEE AND OTHER INDIANS,
AND IN WHITES

• LEGEND:
• A = Mean diameter antero-posterior at middle[63] (a)
• B = Mean diameter lateral at middle[64] (b)
• C = Module[65]
• D = Index of shaft at middle (b × 100)/a
• E = Tibio-femoral index (T × 100)/F

The Munsee tibiæ, barring a few moderate inflammatory lesions referred to in another section, are normal throughout and free from anomalies. The inclination of the head is in no case especially marked.

As to the shape of the shaft at middle, conditions were found as follows:

LIII.  MUNSEE TIBIÆ: SHAPE OF SHAFT AT MIDDLE[66]

[Pg 70] It is interesting to note that in the female Munsee tibia, type 1 is decidedly frequent and much more common than in the males; type 3, which is usually associated with considerably developed leg muscles, is absent in the females; type 4 is relatively frequent in both sexes; type 6 is wholly absent.

In the next table are shown for comparison the proportions of the different types found by the author in different racial groups. For the purpose of elucidating these data, both sexes are taken together. It is seen that well-differentiated type 1 is most common in the Indians; that type 2 is relatively scarce in the negro; type 3, most common in the white (laboring class), was not met with in a pronounced form in the negro; type 4 is decidedly more common in the Indian than in the other two races; and type 6, absent in the Indians and rare in the whites, is fairly frequent in the negro. These differences show that the shape of the shaft of the tibia, as that of the femur, humerus, and other bones, has a considerable racial significance, which, as our data are increased, will doubtless become accentuated.

LIV.  COMPARISON OF MUNSEE AND OTHER INDIAN WITH
WHITE AND NEGRO TIBIÆ WITH REFERENCE TO
SHAPE OF SHAFT AT MIDDLE[67]

Fibula

While of secondary importance, the fibula often presents interesting features which make it worthy of closer attention than it usually receives. One of these features concerns its length on the two sides of the body, which, in some Indians at least, is more uniform than that of its companion bone, the tibia. It was found so by the writer in the skeletal collections from Arkansas and Louisiana mounds, and the feature appears again in the Munsee. The slight differences presented by the Munsee fibulæ in this particular harmonize with those of the tibiæ.

The percental relation of the female to the male fibula averages 93.5 (the male bone = 100), while in the tibia it was only as 91.7 to 100.[68] This anomaly is due to the unexplained relative shortness of the female Munsee tibiæ. [Pg 71]

As to the shape of the shaft, which in the fibula differs more than in any other bone, the prevalent tendency, as in the Arkansas and Louisiana specimens, is toward type 2, or the lateral prismatic; a good many of the bones, however, show also a more or less marked fluting of one or two of the surfaces. The details are given in the following table:

LV.  MUNSEE FIBULA: LENGTH

LVI.  MUNSEE AND OTHER INDIAN FIBULÆ—
SHAPE OF SHAFT AT MIDDLE[69]

Clavicle

The Munsee clavicle, in paired bones and in average, measures 15.3 cm. in length on the right and 15.25 cm. on the left in the males, and 13.7 cm. on the right with 13.9 cm. on the left in the females. This gives the ratio of 90.4 (female) to 100 (male), which is lower than that in any of the long-bones and indicates a relative shortness of the clavicle in the Munsee females.

The right clavicle is very slightly longer than the left in the male, but is perceptibly shorter than the left in the female skeletons. One pair of the male and a pair of the female bones show pronounced curves; otherwise there is nothing special. The strength of the bones is moderate to medium; none is massive. [Pg 72]

LVII.  MUNSEE CLAVICLE: LENGTH

Sternum

The total number of sterna present is 14, 8 males and 6 females. In 13 of these specimens the manubrium is completely detached, which in general is the most usual condition, while in the 14th there is partial attachment. Much the same condition was found by the writer in the Indian sterna from Arkansas and Louisiana.

The measurements of the sternum, given in the next table, are found to be moderate throughout. Unfortunately there are few available measurements of the sternum in other races for comparison.

LVIII.  MUNSEE STERNUM: DIMENSIONS

As to the rib facets, two of the 11 sterna in which the notches can be counted show seven on each side; in female skeleton no. 285,307, with normal number of ribs, there are seven notches on the right and but six [Pg 73] on the left; in female no. 285,311, with 24 regular ribs and a right cervical, there are six facets on the right and seven on the left, and all the facets on the right side are situated perceptibly higher than those on the opposite side of the bone; in four instances there are six facets on each side; in two (male no. 285,301 and female no. 285,330, the former with the normal number of ribs and the latter uncertain) the sternum shows six facets on the right and but five on the left side; finally, in female no. 285,310, with 24 ribs, we find but five sternal facets on each side—this subject, however, was not fully adult. These details show that there are considerable irregularities in the sternal facets among the Munsee, even in the presence of the normal number of ribs.

The antero-posterior curvature of the Munsee sternum ranges from slight to moderate. The xiphoid appendix is attached to the body of the sternum in only one instance—a male. In one male (no. 285,314) the left clavicular facet is considerably larger than the right.

Three of the male and one female sterna show on one or both sides attached episternal tubercles. In three of the cases the anomaly is unilateral—twice left and once right—while in one of the males it is bilateral, but the tubercle is more pronounced on the left.

The breadth-length index of the sternum shows considerable individual variation in both sexes, but on the average it is higher in the females, the bone in this sex being relatively shorter.

Scapula

GENERAL FEATURES

This is one of the most interesting bones of the body, and although it has been reported on by a number of observers, it presents a variety of features that deserve further study. It is a bone which in all particulars shows great individual variation, but on close scrutiny it is found that these variations differ more or less from group to group and are therefore of anthropological importance, and that they are subject to certain laws which evidently are universal to human kind.

In collections derived from graves, such as those of the Munsee, the scapulæ, on account of their frailness, are often damaged, so that relatively few specimens are available for examination. There are nevertheless in the Munsee collection five male and nine female bones in fair condition, and their study gives some satisfactory results. To contrast these results properly the writer presents in the following table data not only of the Munsee, but also those on several other Indian groups as well as on the whites and the United States negroes. [Pg 74]

LIX.  MUNSEE SCAPULÆ: COMPARISON

• LEGEND:
• A = Infra-spinous height
• B = Breadth
• C = Scapular index
• D = Infra-spinous index

†† M. Livon, De l’omoplate, etc., Thèse, Paris, 1879, pp. 41-42.

The above data show that the Indian scapula is on the whole somewhat smaller than that of either the whites or the American negroes, except in the females, where the bone, while shorter, is slightly broader than that in the other two races. The Munsee scapulæ compare fairly well with those of other Indian tribes, the apparent differences being doubtless due in a measure to the small number of specimens.

The scapular index in the Munsee is high, indicating that the shortness of the bone is both absolute and relative. The different Indian tribes offer considerable variation in this respect, but, as will be noted, except in the Peruvians, the index in all is above that of the whites and in the majority of cases even above that of the negroes. These high scapular indexes in the Indian approximate those of the anthropoid apes, but it remains to be determined if the phenomenon in the two genera is homologous.

In the female Munsee the scapular index is perceptibly higher than in the males, and this characteristic, owing to a relatively greater breadth of this bone in the females, is common to all the other given groups, excepting the negro. [Pg 75]

The infraspinous index is also high in the Munsee as compared with other Indians, the whites, and even the negroes. This is particularly the case in the males, in whom the infraspinous height is exceptionally low.

The female index again exceeds that of the males in the Munsee and in all other Indian groups, as well as in the whites, owing to the relatively greater breadth of the female scapula. The negroes show here once more an exception to the rule, and it would be interesting to trace how far this peculiarity may be prevalent in that race.

High indexes, such as those of the Indians, have been reported by Livon, Broca, Ranke, and others,[73] among some of the African negroes, the Melanesians, the Malays, the Guanches, and the Egyptians.

DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES

The principal points for visual observation to which attention has been given in this instance were (a) the shape of the scapula as a whole, with the development of the teres major region; (b) the form of the superior border of the bone; and (c) the development of the notch in the superior border.

Type of body.—The scapula as a whole may be more or less neatly triangular or wedge-shaped, which form will be designated as type 1. Again, it may be more acutely wedge-shaped, with both its axillary and vertebral border markedly concave, a type which the author classes as 3.[74] It may be quadrilateral, type 4, with the axillary border augmented by a shorter but well-marked inferior border, due to a development of a process or angle by the influence of the teres major muscle. It may be pentagonal, when the preceding type is augmented by a distinct angle in the axillary border at or above the spine, which divides it into two well-marked borders—type 5. Finally, we may have a shape resembling that in many lower mammals and characterized by marked convexity of the axillary border, which will be referred to as type 6.

Among the 19 Munsee scapulæ, a large majority show types 4 and 5, the few remaining specimens approaching type 1. There is no instance of the relatively rare type 3, nor of type 6, which is quite common in other Indians, particularly the males. The following table gives several [Pg 76] series of records for comparison, including that of United States whites. Analysis of the data shows some marked sexual as well as racial differences, the full value of which can not, however, be determined in the absence of more ample records. It is very plain, however, that type 1, or a close approach to it, and types 3 and 5 are, on the whole, more common in the females than in the males; while type 6 is decidedly more frequent in the males. Type 3 is relatively frequent in the whites, type 5 relatively scarce. In all probability the Indians differ considerably among themselves with respect to the shape of the scapulæ, as shown by the Munsee and Peruvian males, though the two series of specimens are very unequal in numbers. Minor differences in records of this nature can not be given any weight, for naturally the matter of classification of the different shapes is less perfect than that of accurate measurements.

LX.  THE FORM OF THE SCAPULA:
MUNSEE AND COMPARATIVE